Malaysia is experiencing a significant decrease in its fertility rate, with live births declining by 12.3% in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year. This trend, driven by factors like rising living costs, delayed marriage, and evolving career aspirations, raises concerns about future labor shortages, economic growth, and the strain on social welfare systems. Experts emphasize the need for a holistic approach integrating economic, social, and health strategies to mitigate these challenges.
: Malaysia is undergoing a significant demographic transformation, marked by a continuous decline in its fertility rate s.
Health experts attribute this decline to a range of factors, including rising living costs, delayed marriage, urbanisation, shifting gender roles and evolving career aspirations among women. Beyond economic concerns, societal shifts have also played a significant role in altering family dynamics, one of the most notable changes being the trend of delayed marriage.
“While these developments reflect progress in gender equality and personal autonomy, they also pose challenges to population growth as fewer children are born per household,” she said.Dr Wan Hilya Munira added that health concerns, particularly subfertility and infertility, further compound the decline in fertility.
“The current initiatives from the government could be leveraged especially those related to financial incentives for parents, such as tax benefits, childcare subsidies and paid parental leave, to ease the financial burden of raising children. Complementary measures like affordable housing, quality education and accessible healthcare would create a family-friendly environment,” she added.
This highlights a significant gap in family planning education and access, underscoring the need for enhanced public health initiatives to promote contraception.
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Malaysia Faces Significant Demographic Shift Due to Declining Fertility RateMalaysia is experiencing a notable demographic shift, marked by a continuous decline in its fertility rate. Recent demographic statistics released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) reveal a 12.3% drop in live births to 100,645 in the third quarter of 2024 compared to 114,764 during the same period in the previous year. The total fertility rate (TFR) also shows a decline from 2.1 children per woman aged 15 to 49 in 2010 to 1.7 in 2023, significantly below the replacement level of 2.1 children. Experts warn that this trend poses significant implications for Malaysia's future, as a shrinking youthful population due to declining fertility could lead to a shortage of human resources, slower economic growth, and an increased burden on the social welfare system to support an aging population. Factors contributing to this decline include rising living costs, delayed marriages, urbanization, shifting gender roles, and evolving career aspirations among women.
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